By TonyB

How do you manage all of the data required to customize my order while at a price I’m willing to pay?

Now, I do almost all my shopping online. Don’t get me wrong, I still almost enjoy the experience of going to a store. As a consumer nothing is quite as satisfying as that walk to the car with the elusive prey of my day-long hunt in hand. My conversion to online shopping happened a few years ago when my wife reminded me that Christmas was in a few days and it was still my responsibility to purchase gifts for my parents. I logged in, found some items, chose the appropriate color and features, reviewed the order, provided my credit card info. and . . .

“Would you like that gift-wrapped?”

Cool. Yeah. Please do.

“Would you like a gift receipt included?”

Of course!

“Should we send this to an address other than yours?”

Now we’re talking. Yes!

Done! I never left the couch.

This was five years ago and I was already late to the online shopping game.The point is, this is our shopping norm.I can pop-open another window as I’m typing this, search on some obscure item, configure it to my liking, see what it will look like, buy it and have it at my door the day after tomorrow.Anything less than this experience seems kind of quaint.I’ll leave the old-school shopping for my parents.

You manufacture and sell products to people like me, not my parents. I want no excuses about the complexity of your product nor the thinness of your margins. I want to configure my order, see what it looks like and have it arrive tomorrow. Gift wrapped if necessary. How do you make this happen? How do you manage all of the data required – which grows exponentially every time you add an option — to allow me to customize my order while at a price I’m willing to pay?

You need a solution that manages this complexity, from product inception through manufacturing, in a simple way that enables re-use and commonality. That’s why we’ve introduced the Teamcenter Product Configurator. Learn more about Teamcenter Product Configurator, which provides a single, consistent definition of product features, rules and product content across a company’s entire product definition and execution process.

Configuration management has made me a better shopper and as a direct consequence, a better giver. I no longer dread holiday shopping. Unless, of course, my internet connection fails and … <insert scream here>

This is the 4th post in our holiday series, The 12 Days of Teamcenter. Check out what else we have in store by following along!